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Being and Nothingness: Rethinking Life, Space & the Nature of the Universe

Adapted from Beyond Biocentrism: Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death, by Robert Lanza with Bob Berman (BenBella Books 2016).

In the modern prevailing view of the cosmos, we sit here as tiny unimportant specks of protoplasm, flukes of nature, and stare out into an almost limitless void. Vast nameless tracts of emptiness dominate the scene. Talk about feeling small.

But what is all that supposed nothingness, that yawning lifeless gap between the stars and galaxies? Here we will provide evidence challenging the notion of a little island “me” bravely forging ahead in a vast lonely cosmos, and will demolish the modern image of insentient vastness being the dominant quality of reality.

A long string of experiments suggests that beyond the observer, no real emptiness exists. According to biocentrism, a biology-based theory of everything, “space” is largely just a sense of order created exclusively by our mind’s algorithms. For all these reasons an exploration of space is important. It’s also enjoyable for anyone who finds ‘nothing’ fascinating.

The Universe in the Palm-of-Your-Hand

The universe seems a huge virtual ball of emptiness, according to physics texts. Yet here on Earth, the richness around us is an illusion. Remove all the unoccupied space within each atom, and the entire planet would pack itself into the volume of a marble. This marble would then be a black hole, in that such density would sufficiently boost its gravitational field that its own light could not escape. It’s a marble weighing six nonillion tons.

Figuring out the nature of space has obsessed humans ever since the earliest written records of Homo Bewilderus. The ancient Greeks, compulsive logicians, argued that the blank-seeming sections of the universe couldn’t be empty because nothingness cannot exist. They said that for space to “be nothing” requires us to take the verb “to be” — which means to exist — and then negate it. Being nothing, they said, is a contradiction. It makes as much sense as saying you’re walking not walking.

During the Renaissance most 18th and 19th century scientists said that light is composed of waves — and waves require some medium through which to travel. Sound waves need air to go from a teenager’s car radio to pedestrians hearing the thumping bass. The Church chanted “amen” to the “no such thing as nothing” credo: if God is omnipresent, there cannot be any vacuum. Thus the anti-nothing lobby included members of the scientific, religious, and philosophical communities. You were in the nut-job category if you were pro-vacuum. The universal stuff assumed to fill all space was first called a plenum, then an ether. Its existence was a “given” for centuries.

In 1905, Einstein settled the question with his relativity theory, which showed that light travels happily through a vacuum. Its waves are electric and magnetic pulses. Nothing need convey them. This was welcome news. It hadn’t really made sense for the planets to be passing through a substance without the slightest resistance. Fashion totally swung the other way, and “nothing” pleased everyone. Even the Church was no longer anti-vacuum.

Ah, but not so fast. An entirely different aspect of emptiness changed space from logical to enigmatic. Since the late 1990s, experiments have confirmed the reality of entanglement, where two bits of light, or even clumps of material that were created together, fly off and live separate lives, but are always ‘aware’ of the other’s status as though there was no space between them. If one is measured or observed, its twin knows this is happening instantaneously, even if the twins are on opposite sides of the galaxy. In short, space is penetrated in zero time, no matter the distance.

This strongly suggests that the gap between bodies is not real on some level. Emptiness is not what we once assumed it to be. If far-apart objects can be in simultaneous contact no matter the distance, what does this say about space or separation?

And if that weren’t enough to establish a science-based connectivity between all objects no matter their apparent separation, there’s more. Einstein’s relativity shows that space is not a constant and therefore not inherently substantive. High-speed travel makes intervening space dramatically shrink. Thus when we contemplate the cosmos, perhaps by gazing at the starry canopy during a camping trip, we may marvel at their distances and the universe’s vast spaces. But experiments have repeatedly proven that this seeming separation between ourselves and anything else is subject to point of view — what Einstein called a “reference frame” — and therefore has no inherent bedrock reality. That’s why Einstein himself did away with space as being any sort of trustworthy actual entity on its own, and replaced it with a mathematical concept of spacetime. No gap between any two objects is reliable and nonviolable.

Living Rooms the Size of a Period

Simply change your speed or ask your real estate agent to find you a nice ranch house on a world with a much stronger gravity, and you’d find that all those stars now lie at entirely different distances. If we crossed a large living room going at 99.9999999 percent of light speed, every instrument and perception would show that it’s actually now barely larger than the period at the end of this sentence. Go faster and the entire universe would fit into the palm of your hand. Space would have changed to nearly nothing. Where, then, is the supposedly trustworthy space matrix, the gridwork within which we observe the universe?

Beyond all this science, none of which is doubted by any physicist, looms the issue of whether gaps or separations exist objectively, or are merely the result of our minds’ process of imparting order to what we see. Remember, we sense the world because our electrical fields are encountering its. Based on these sensations alone, we perceive seeming absences or empty gaps. Thus, apparent space is part of the mental logic of the animal organism, the software that molds sensations into multidimensional objects so that we can make sense of the world and accomplish all our vital functions like searching for where we put the TV’s remote.

When we think about it, most of us would probably regard space as some sort of a vast container that has no walls and that houses all visible entities. In this huge floorless warehouse lurks the appearance of a myriad of separate objects. But these gaps are mere mental constructions. When we view a waterfall, do we count the spaces between droplets as gaps, or, instead, include it as the “waterfall object”? What about the mist — count it in, or out? So the more we ponder this, the more arbitrary becomes the notion of what is empty and what is not.

There’s more. The real antinothingness news was Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, published in 1927, claims a perfect vacuum can’t exist and this was seconded at the time by other theorists who argued that empty space ought to contain a weird sort of energy. It took awhile, but ultimately experimental evidence showed that “virtual particles” — things like electrons and antimatter positrons — snap, crackle, and pop out of “nothingness” everywhere all the time. Each particle typically exists for just a billionth of a trillionth of a second and then vanishes. Thus, the seemingly empty universe forever swarms with exuberant evanescent particles, like fleas jumping up and down on a hot griddle.

Physicists now believe this underlying “vacuum energy” has enormous power. Although estimates vary greatly, it’s likely the space inside a mayonnaise jar contains enough power to boil away the Pacific Ocean instantly. That we visually see nothing means nothing.

Changing Our Way of Thinking

So, let’s change our way of thinking of the cosmos. Biocentrism shows us that since the observer and the observed universe are correlative, the space “out there” is part of a continuum of consciousness, and nothing exists apart from the observer. In reality, the farthest regions of space are located here in our minds (Note: even in dreams, our minds generate a 3D experience, including a flesh-and-blood representation of our body, even though you may still be sleeping in bed). Space and distances mutate depending on a multitude of relativistic conditions, so that no inviolable distance exists anywhere, between anything and anything else. Quantum theory even casts serious doubt about whether even far-apart bodies are truly and fully separated, and separations between objects are often called space only because language and convention makes us draw boundaries.

Still, the mental torment imposed by the issue of space shows no sign of abating. Some scientists propose additional dimensions to space, beyond the three spatial dimensions and a fourth constituting time. There are complex, mathematically plausible arguments for extra, unseen dimensions. On the other hand, many scientists say that additional space dimensions are mere speculation, and must remain so unless some actual experimental or observational evidence comes to light.

Even back in 1781, the great philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote that “we must rid ourselves of the notion that space and time are actual qualities in things in themselves…all bodies, together with the space in which they are, must be considered nothing but mere representations in us, and exist nowhere but in our thoughts…It is our mind that processes information about the world and gives it order… our mind supplies the conditions of space and time to experience objects.”

Thus, in reality, there is nothing standing between us and, say, the stars, galaxies, and other telescopic objects that appear separated from us by the unfathomable darkness of empty space.

“If we measure our individual forces against [nature’s],” said Emerson “we may easily feel as if we were the sport of an insuperable destiny. But if, instead of identifying ourselves with the work, we feel that the soul of the workman streams through us, we shall find the peace of the morning dwelling first in our hearts, and the fathomless powers of gravity and chemistry, and, over them, of life, pre-existing within us in their highest form.”

Further Reading

"Beyond Biocentrism is an enlightening and fascinating journey that will forever alter your understanding of your own existence."
—Deepak Chopra

"Beyond Biocentrism is a joyride through the history of science and cutting-edge physics, all with a very serious purpose: to find the long-overlooked connection between the conscious self and the universe around us."
—Corey Powell, ex editor-in-chief, Discover magazine

"Will machines ever achieve consciousness? Are plants aware? Is death an illusion? These are some of the big questions tackled in Beyond Biocentrism, which serves up a new, biology-based theory of everything that is as delightful to read as it is fascinating."
—Pamela Weintraub, ex editor-in-chief of OMNI Magazine

Biocentrism takes you on a seemingly improbable but ultimately inescapable journey through a foreign universe‒our own‒from the viewpoints of an acclaimed biologist and a leading astronomer. It will shatter your ideas of life-time and space, and even death…you will never see reality the same again.

"Like "A Brief History of Time" it is indeed stimulating and brings biology into the whole. Any short statement does not do justice to such a scholarly work… Most importantly, it makes you think."
—Nobel Prize Winner E. Donnall Thomas

Lanza featured on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC’s) Ideas, one of the oldest and most respected radio programs in the world

BEYOND BIOCENTRISM: Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of DeathHost Paul Kennedy has his understanding of reality turned-upside-down by Dr. Robert Lanza in this paradigm-shifting hour. Dr. Lanza provides a compelling argument for consciousness as the basis for the universe, rather than consciousness simply being its by-product.

Lanza’s Paper is the Cover Story of Annalen der Physik, which Published Einstein’s Theories of Relativity

In his papers on relativity, Einstein showed that time was relative to the observer. This new paper takes this one step further, arguing that the observer creates it. The paper shows that the intrinsic properties of quantum gravity and matter alone cannot explain the tremendous effectiveness of the emergence of time and the lack of quantum entanglement in our everyday world. Instead, it’s necessary to include the properties of the observer, and in particular, the way we process and remember information.

Dr. Robert Lanza selected for the 2014 TIME 100 list of the hundred most influential people in the world, along with Beyoncé, Hillary Clinton, Pope Francis, Vladimir Putin, Robert Redford, and other artists, pioneers, leaders, titans and icons.

Biocentrism Author, Robert Lanza Named One of the Top 50 “World Thinkers”

Robert Lanza selected as one of the top “World Thinkers 2015” by Prospect Magazine. The thinkers were chosen for “engaging in original and profound ways with the central questions of the world today,” as well as for their continuing significance for “this year’s biggest questions” (in economics, science, philosophy, cultural and social criticism and in politics).

From Wikipedia: The h-index measures both the productivity and impact of a scientist or scholar. A value for h of about 12 might be typical for advancement to tenure (associate professor) at major [US] research universities. A value of about 18 could mean a full professorship, 15–20 could mean a fellowship in the American Physical Society, and 45 or higher could mean membership in the United States National Academy of Sciences. According to Hirsch (who put forward the h-index), an h index of 20 is good, 40 is outstanding, and 60 is truly exceptional.

How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

Don’t miss the book that started it all, and shocked the world with its radical rethinking of the nature of reality.

In biocentrism, Robert Lanza and Bob Berman team up to turn the planet upside down with the revolutionary view that life creates the universe instead of the other way around.

Biocentrism takes the reader on a seemingly improbable but ultimately inescapable journey through a foreign universe‒our own‒from the viewpoints of an acclaimed biologist and a leading astronomer. It will shatter the reader’s ideas of life-time and space, and even death … the reader will never see reality the same again.

“Like “A Brief History of Time” it is indeed stimulating and brings biology into the whole. Any short statement does not do justice to such a scholarly work… Most importantly, it makes you think.”—Nobel Prize Winner E. Donnall Thomas

Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death

Biocentrism shocked the world with a radical rethinking of the nature of reality.

But that was just the beginning.

“Beyond Biocentrism is an enlightening and fascinating journey that will forever alter your understanding of your own existence.”—Deepak Chopra

“Beyond Biocentrism is a joyride through the history of science and cutting-edge physics, all with a very serious purpose: to find the long-overlooked connection between the conscious self and the universe around us.”—Corey S. Powell, former editor-in-chief, Discover magazine

Robert Lanza is one of the most respected scientists in the world—a US News & World Report cover story called him a “genius” and a “renegade thinker,” even likening him to Einstein. Lanza has teamed with Bob Berman, the most widely read astronomer in the world, to produce Biocentrism, a revolutionary new view of the universe.

Every now and then a simple yet radical idea shakes the very foundations of knowledge. The startling discovery that the world was not flat challenged and ultimately changed the way people perceived themselves and their relationship with the world. For most humans of the 15th century, the notion of Earth as ball of rock was nonsense. The whole of Western, natural philosophy is undergoing a sea change again, increasingly being forced upon us by the experimental findings of quantum theory, and at the same time, towards doubt and uncertainty in the physical explanations of the universe’s genesis and structure. Biocentrism completes this shift in worldview, turning the planet upside down again with the revolutionary view that life creates the universe instead of the other way around.

In this paradigm, life is not an accidental byproduct of the laws of physics. Biocentrism takes the reader on a seemingly improbable but ultimately inescapable journey through a foreign universe—our own—from the viewpoints of an acclaimed biologist and a leading astronomer. Switching perspective from physics to biology unlocks the cages in which Western science has unwittingly managed to confine itself. Biocentrism will shatter the reader’s ideas of life—time and space, and even death. At the same time it will release us from the dull worldview of life being merely the activity of an admixture of carbon and a few other elements; it suggests the exhilarating possibility that life is fundamentally immortal.

The 21st century is predicted to be the Century of Biology, a shift from the previous century dominated by physics. It seems fitting, then, to begin the century by turning the universe outside-in and unifying the foundations of science with a simple idea discovered by one of the leading life-scientists of our age. Biocentrism awakens in readers a new sense of possibility, and is full of so many shocking new perspectives that the reader will never see reality the same way again.

Robert Lanza Worked (and Published Scientific Papers) with Some of the Greatest Scientists of the 20th Century

“I downloaded a digital copy of [biocentrism] in the privacy of my home, where no one could observe my buying or reading such a “New Agey” sort of cosmology book. Now, mind you, my motivation was not all that pure. It was my intention to read the book so I could more effectively refute it like a dedicated physicist was expected to…The book had the completely opposite effect on me. The views that Dr. Lanza presented in this book changed my thinking in ways from which there could never be retreat. Before I had actually finished reading the book, it was abundantly obvious to me that Dr. Lanza’s writings provided me with the pieces of perspective that I had been desperately seeking. Everything I had learned and everything I thought I knew just exploded in my mind and, as possibilities first erupted and then settled down, a completely new understanding emerged. The information I had accumulated in my mind hadn’t changed, but the way I viewed it did –in a really big way.”

— Scott M. Tyson, Physicist, The Unobservable Universe

“The heart of [biocentrism], collectively, is correct. On page 15 they say “the animal observer creates reality and not the other way around.” That is the essence of the entire book, and that is factually correct. It is an elementary conclusion from quantum mechanics. So what Lanza says in this book is not new. Then why does Robert have to say it at all? It is because we, the physicists, do NOT say it—or if we do say it, we only whisper it, and in private—furiously blushing as we mouth the words. True, yes; politically correct, hell no! Bless Robert Lanza for creating this book, and bless Bob Berman for not dissuading friend Robert from going ahead with it. Not that I think Robert Lanza could be dissuaded–this dude doesn’t dissuade! Lanza’s remarkable personal story is woven into the book, and is uplifting. You should enjoy this book, and it should help you on your personal journey to understanding.

“Having interviewed some of the most brilliant minds in the scientific world, I found Dr. Robert Lanza’s insights into the nature of consciousness original and exciting. His theory of biocentrism is consistent with the most ancient traditions of the world which say that consciousness conceives, governs, and becomes a physical world. It is the ground of our Being in which both subjective and objective reality come into existence…I agree more with [Lanza] than with anyone else that I have ever met.”

— Deepak Chopra, Bestselling Author (heralded by Time magazine as one of the top heroes and icons of the century)